Appearance of a slashing ball pitching with a customized RBI in the ABS era, but when is the starter anyway?

Jul 22, 2025

Appearance of a slashing ball pitching with a customized RBI in the ABS era, but when is the starter anyway?
Photo courtesy=KT 위즈



So when is the selection?

KT Wiz made an ambitious decision ahead of the opening of the second half. He chose to part ways with William Cuevas, a long-time foreign player who has been with him for seven years. And brought in a new foreign pitcher, Patrick.

the age of ABS. Many teams are looking for fast-ball pitchers. Even if the ball control is not very good, there are cases in which if a slightly unstable player is brought in, the ball thrown at the center is blown to make use of the unexpected advantage at the edge of the ABS zone. Following Gamboa (Lotte) and Garabito (Samsung), Patrick is a similar type of pitcher 'ball type'.




First of all, we're off to a good start. He made his KBO debut against the Hanwha Eagles on the 18th. Come out to the middle and strike out two innings. Perfect. As I heard, he sprayed more than 150 kilometers of fastballs, and his control must have been tense, but he didn't shake much. What stands out the most is the RBI that hits the ball. He is also 1m 96cm tall, and his arm position is extremely high. If the batter looks at it, he will feel the ball falling from the second floor. It is also customized for ASB. It falls at a large angle and passes through the bottom point of the back of the ABS, which can be a really hard ball for a batter to hit.

The problem is that KT did not bring this player to use as a bullpen. Until last year, his professional career continued to be a bullpen. But it is clear why Patrick came to Korea. It's because I want to build a career as a starter. They made an implicit agreement on this and chose to go to KT. Of course, KT is also more beneficial to return the starting position stably than to a foreign player who was brought in hard times playing as a bullpen.

Appearance of a slashing ball pitching with a customized RBI in the ABS era, but when is the starter anyway?
Photo courtesy=KT 위즈
However, KT manager Lee Kang-chul is very careful about Patrick's starting conversion. Initially, he threw two or three games to the bullpen and tried to turn it into a starter, but even this slightly changed the plan. Patrick's second appearance is likely to be one of the games against the NC Dinos on the 22nd and 23rd. Since he is a good pitcher, he puts him in a game where he can win. I threw nearly 30 in the last game, so I think about 45 in my second appearance. This is because it is a process of increasing the number of pitches by starting.




Then he can take the mound for the third time this weekend. So far, he is confirmed to take the mound as a bullpen. At this time, the number of pitches increases. There are 60 to 70. However, manager Lee said, `After pitching on this day, I'm thinking about throwing another game into the bullpen.' Why? Manager Lee said, "(He's a pitcher who didn't have a good arm. If you suddenly switch to a starter, you can strain your body. I think it would be best to go as slowly as possible." Of course, if there's nothing wrong with the weekend's appearance, there's still a chance of starting next week. It is the period of three consecutive away games against the LG Twins.

KT is preparing to switch to the bullpen for Cho Hyung-joon, who will play his first full-time season after undergoing elbow surgery. He is going to the bullpen after three starts in the second half, but he has already played one game. It's time for Patrick to prepare for the starting switch until the remaining two starts.





This article was translated by Naver AI translator.